SASKATOONEXPRESS - November 9-15, 2015 - Page 1
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1702 8th St. & Louise | 3330 8th St. E. | 705 22nd St. W. | 1204 Central Ave. | 802 Circle Dr. E. | 519 Nelson Road. Volume 12, Issue 45, Week of November 9, 2015
Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
Documenting a dark time Filmmaker shares stories of interned Ukrainians
Saskatoon-born actor/filmmaker Ryan Boyko filmed at the site of a Ukrainian internment camp west of the city (Photo by Joanne Paulson) Joanne Paulson Saskatoon Express even kilometres west of Saskatoon stands the Saskatchewan Railway Museum, a historical monument to rail transport in Canada. It is really a historical spot for an even more important reason. What most people do not know is that in 1919, Ukrainian immigrants, deemed to be enemy aliens by the Canadian government, were interned in a labour camp at that very spot. Known as Eaton at the time, it was one of 24 camps spread across Canada, and the only one in Saskatchewan. Between 1914 and 1920, more than 80,000 people were interned. It’s a story close to the heart of Saskatoonborn actor Ryan Boyko, now turned producer and principal behind Armistice Films. He is presently absorbed in three film projects
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about the internment, going across the country to visit every one of the 24 camps. “Over 5,000 (of the 80,000) were Ukrainians,” said Boyko, stopping for a coffee the day after filming at the museum. “It’s a story most people don’t know. It was removed from the history books in 1954. They destroyed all known records in Canada. It wasn’t until the mid-’80s when some people found out about this and started doing the research,” he said. “They went to the United States, England, Russia, to find documents and information about these so-called enemy aliens. They were considered enemies because they were at war with Canada — the Austro-Hungarian Empire was at war with Canada.” Along with Ukrainians, “there were Croatians, Serbians, Poles. There were a few Italians, a few Jews and Germans who were real prisoners of war. But, for the most part,
it was the government’s attempt at free or cheap labour.” Boyko’s three projects break down as follows: The Camps, a 26-part web and TV documentary series; a full-length documentary, relying on both used and unused footage from the web series; and a feature film entitled Enemy Aliens. Boyko has no personal family link to the story, but a profound ethnic connection. “It’s not my family history, as far as we know,” said Boyko.”We have not been able to prove that anyone in my family was affected directly.” But while still in school, Boyko saw a movie called Freedom at a Price, which included a piece about Ukrainian enemy aliens. “It was my first experience with racism to my culture,” said Boyko. “I went back to my high school teacher at Marion Graham here and I said, ‘Can you tell us a little bit
about the Ukrainian internment during World War One?’ He said, ‘You mean the Japanese internment during World War Two?’ And I said. ‘No, the Ukrainian internment during World War One.’ “He looked at me, stone-faced, and said, ‘It never happened.’ That was 20 years ago, and I’m still working on it. “I didn’t even know how much that comment affected me until 10 years later. I was at Stratford, and we had the opportunity to create a one-man play. . . . I went OK, I gotta make a one-man play. What’s a subject no one talks about? And I thought of the internment.” Once he started working on it, he realized there was too much information for a one-man play, and he didn’t want to “make something up” — he wanted it to be accurate and faithful to the information. He shelved it. (Continued on page 4)